EducationAs a senior member of the Education and Labor Committee, Rep. Petri's leadership on higher education policy has helped make college more accessible and affordable for lower and middle-class families. Further, he has played a critical role in ensuring accountability in the federal student financial loan programs, developing special education policy and improving the No Child Left Behind Act. Last year, the President signed into law the Higher Education Opportunity Act, the first major overhaul in a decade of the federal law governing higher education. The Higher Education Opportunity Act includes key reforms to ensure access, accountability, affordability and quality in higher education. In the 111th Congress, the Education committee will likely focus on reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act. K-12/No Child Left BehindTroops to Teachers Improvement Act (H.R. 1313) Rep. Petri's legislation would increase opportunities for veterans seeking second careers as teachers to teach in a greater number of schools and retain their eligibility for certification stipends. Post-9/11 Troops to Teachers Enhancement Act (H.R. 3943) Rep. Petri, along with Representatives Courtney and Matsui and Senators John McCain and Michael introduced the Post-9/11 Troops to Teachers Enhancement Act (H.R. 3943, S. 1932). This bill makes changes to the years of service requirement to ensure that members of the military who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are eligible to participate in the Troops to Teachers program. It also expands the number of school districts in which participants can qualify for a $5000 stipend towards becoming a teacher. This provision is identical to H.R. 1313. More information on the Troops to Teachers Enhancement Act Assessment Accuracy and Improvement Act (H.R. 655) Rep. Petri's bill would allow states to use computer adaptive testing as the required statewide assessment in reading, math, and science under No Child Left Behind. Educators believe that adaptive makes use of technology to obtain a better understanding of a student's learning. Special EducationInstructional Materials Accessibility The 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Assistances (IDEA) Act included a new initiative authored by Rep. Petri to help speed specialized textbooks and other learning materials to sight-impaired students. This initiative, taken from Rep. Petri's Instructional Materials Accessibility Act, incorporates a number of approaches that, taken together, will greatly reduce what now can be up to a 6-month wait for our nation's sight-impaired students to receive properly-formatted textbooks. In 2008, Petri joined with Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) to develop a provision to make textbooks more accessible for visually-impaired college students. This provision was included in the final version of the higher education reauthorization bill that was signed into law. Higher EducationIn 1994, he helped create an entirely new student loan program, Direct Loans, that has saved taxpayers billions of dollars by lending to students directly from the federal government instead of subsidizing private banks to make the loans. Student Loan Auction Market (SLAM) Act (H.R. 3979 in 110th Congress) Rep. Petri's SLAM Act would comprehensively reform the archaic and wasteful Federal Family Education Loan program by launching a study and pilot of market-based student loan reform. This would cut down on wasteful spending and ensure more funds are available to college students - not banks. Income-Dependent Education Assistance (IDEA) Act (H.R. 2465 in 110th Congress) Rep. Petri's IDEA Act would provide sweeping new protections and flexibility for federal student loan borrowers. It would allow borrowers to consolidate their loans into an income-contingent repayment program wherein payments would automatically be made through the IRS and adjusted according to the borrower's income. This will strengthen borrower rights while reducing defaults, saving taxpayers money. The Higher Education Opportunity Act that was signed into law in 2008 included a critical first step toward implementation of the IDEA Act by requiring the Treasury and Education departments to study how they would implement IRS collection of income-dependent student loans and report back to Congress. Student Aid Reward (STAR) Act (H.R. 1010 in 110th Congress) Rep. Petri's STAR Act would encourage colleges to participate in the more efficient federal student loan program and reward them with the savings in the form of increased student aid. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that this could divert $10 billion away from wasteful subsidies to banks and into Pell Grants for low-income college students. Many of the policy goals of the STAR Act were achieved in separate student loan bills approved in the 110th Congress. Student Loan Accountability Rep. Petri has led congressional oversight efforts on spending on student loan companies. Recently, he fought the Secretary of Education's efforts to forgive $278 million in illegitimately-obtained subsidies to student lender Nelnet. Rep. Petri successfully secured a provision in the Higher Education Opportunity Act to require Department of Justice reviews of settlements with student loan companies. This provision will help prevent future abuse and lead to greater fiscal accountability at the Department of Education. Higher Education for Freedom Act Rep. Petri's legislation would authorize competitive grants to promote civic and
American history education. This provision was included in the Higher Education and
Opportunity Act that was signed into law in 2008.
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